Perfect PC Cleanup is a program that pretends to be a PC optimizer that enhances system performance. But is Perfect PC Cleanup a safe program? In fact, it is categorized as rogue software with fraudulent behavior. Researchers outline that it could be set to display fake system issues in order to trick you into purchasing its full version. Unfortunately, it may sneak into your system and run its installation files without asking you for permission. In case that you see this program running on your machine, you should remove it before it takes the chance to cause some serious security and privacy related issues.

Threat Summary

Name

Perfect PC Cleanup

Type

Rogue application, PUP

Short Description

The application attempts to deceive users that it is a legitimate and useful system optimization utility.

Perfect PC Cleanup — Distribution

One of the places where the Perfect PC Cleanup utility can be downloaded is a download page — hosted either on a domain name that uses its name or fake/compromised portals. The criminals can create portals with security certificates, long and detailed contents that advertise the tool.

To make it more well-known among more people the actors behind the malicious copies of Perfect PC Cleanup may also coordinate email SPAM messages. They are sent in bulk and may include warnings of forthcoming infections in order to advertise the software. In some cases the actors can make the messages look as they have been sent by a company or service they use.

Links to the hacker-controlled sites can be boosted by using scripts — redirects, pop-ups, banners, in-line links and etc. The creators of the malicious samples can also use stolen or fake accounts and post links leading to the dangerous samples via social networks and online communities.

A very popular technique for spreading such applications is to use payload delivery files. There are two popular types:

Documents — The actors behind the Perfect PC Cleanup can embed its installation script into documents of all kinds: presentations, rich text documents, databases and spreadsheets. When they are opened a notification prompt will appear asking them to enable the built-in macros. When this is done the code will download and install the infection.

Browser Hijackers — The application can be delivered through a malicious web browser plugin which is advertised as an useful addition to the popular web browsers. They are uploaded to the relevant repositories using fake or stolen user reviews and developer credentials. Whenever they are installed their code will include instructions to modify the system and deliver the application.

Many infections are caused due to app bundles — legitimate setup files are modified to also include the Perfect PC Cleanup software as part of the setup process.

Perfect PC Cleanup — More About Its Impact

The Perfect PC Cleanup is a system utility that has been detected to include malicious code in some of its samples. This does not specifically mean that the main application by itself is a virus, but merely that hackers have created such iterations.

The malware Perfect PC Cleanup copies are heavily advertised as as a quality system utility that can optimize the target computers. There are 5 main areas that the app is advertised to help manage: Clean up disk space, Fix Issues with Live Support, High quality protection against malwares, Enhance PC Performance and Remove registry junks.

Symptoms of infections with fake applications may include any of the following:

Failure to Optimize — Even after the various functions are accessed the computer will not be optimized.

Advertisements — Many fake applications similar to the malicious copies of Perfect PC Cleanup will display ads for other software and coerce the users to buy them. This is model for distributing paid applications — the actors behnd Perfect PC Cleanup will gain a percentage of the income for every sold product.

Data Collection — As the application has access to the infected data it will be able to harvest sensitive data. It can be used to construct a complete profile of the machine: hardware components, user settings and operating system conditions. If configured so the identity of the users can be exposed: their name, address, phone number, location and any stored account credentials.

Additional Virus Infections — Such applications serve as a useful tool for delivering other infections to the already compromised systems.

According to the security reports one of the main goals of Perfect PC Cleanup versions is to coerce the victim users into paying a a subscription plan to unlock all features and receive application updates. This means that at the start of the application for the first time the utility may strt up a scanner and present various threats, bugs and other dangers to the computer. In return for the premium version it will promise to fix the found problems. One of the reasons why users are discouraged into paying for such software is that most of them are merely an user interface to the existing Windows system utilities.

The malicious versions associated with the program are listed under the following signatures:

Perfect PC Cleanup — Privacy Issues

The end-user license agreement posted at one of the sites shows that there are some serious privacy issue when using the application. The application will pop-up various messages (including dialog boxes and prompts),as well as send out emails with ads. Abuse of this can lead to the spread of malware and SPAM messages.

Another dangerous consequence is the fact that the document does not list the type of collected data. As such this can include practically every single type of sensitive data including the following:

OS Version

PC Name

Installed RAM and CPU

Stored Passwords

Installed Applications

Regional Settings

Accessed Sites

Preferences

Files Organization

How to Remove Perfect PC Cleanup Rogue System Utility

In order to remove Perfect PC Cleanup and all its associated files from your PC you should complete all steps listed in the removal that follows. It presents both manual and automatic removal approaches that combined could help you to remove this undesired program in full. The automatic approach could properly locate all potentially harmful files so that you could access and remove them easily. Have in mind that some of the files associated with this rogue program may be detected with different names than Perfect PC Cleanup.

In case that you have further questions or need additional help, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact us via email.

Perfect PC Cleanup may remain persistent on your system and may re-infect it. We recommend you to download SpyHunter and run free scan to remove all virus files on your PC. This saves you hours of time and effort compared to doing the removal yourself.

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

Preparation before removing Perfect PC Cleanup.

Before starting the actual removal process, we recommend that you do the following preparation steps.

Make sure you have these instructions always open and in front of your eyes.

Do a backup of all of your files, even if they could be damaged. You should back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats.

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria

1. Hold Windows key()+ R

2. The “Run” Window will appear. In it, type “msconfig” and click OK.

3. Go to the “Boot” tab. There select “Safe Boot” and then click “Apply” and “OK”.

Tip: Make sure to reverse those changes by unticking Safe Boot after that, because your system will always boot in Safe Boot from now on.

4. When prompted, click on “Restart” to go into Safe Mode.

5. You can recognise Safe Mode by the words written on the corners of your screen.

Step 2: Clean any registries, created by Perfect PC Cleanup on your computer.

The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by Perfect PC Cleanup there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:

1. Open the Run Window again, type “regedit” and click OK.

2. When you open it, you can freely navigate to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are shown above.

3. You can remove the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and removing it.

Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click “Modify” to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.

Step 3:Find files created by Perfect PC Cleanup

For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

1: On your keyboard press + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

2: Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.

3: Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

1: Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

2: After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

3: After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

IMPORTANT!Before starting “Step 4”, please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode. This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.

Step 4:Scan for Perfect PC Cleanup with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

2. After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

3. After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

4. After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.

If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Ransomware infections and Perfect PC Cleanup aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to decrypt. This is why we have suggested several alternative methods that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that these methods may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.

Method 2: Trying Kaspersky and EmsiSoft’s decryptors.If the first method does not work, we suggest trying to use decryptors for other ransomware viruses, in case your virus is a variant of them. The two primary developers of decryptors are Kaspersky and EmsiSoft, links to which we have provided below:

Method 4: Finding the decryption key while the cryptovirus sends it over a network via a sniffing tool.

Another way to decrypt the files is by using a Network Sniffer to get the encryption key, while files are encrypted on your system. A Network Sniffer is a program and/or device monitoring data traveling over a network, such as its internet traffic and internet packets. If you have a sniffer set before the attack happened you might get information about the decryption key. See how-to instructions below:

Perfect PC Cleanup may remain persistent on your system and may re-infect it. We recommend you to download SpyHunter and run free scan to remove all virus files on your PC. This saves you hours of time and effort compared to doing the removal yourself.

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

Preparation before removing Perfect PC Cleanup.

Before starting the actual removal process, we recommend that you do the following preparation steps.

Make sure you have these instructions always open and in front of your eyes.

Do a backup of all of your files, even if they could be damaged. You should back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats.

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria

1. Hold Windows key()+ R

2. The “Run” Window will appear. In it, type “msconfig” and click OK.

3. Go to the “Boot” tab. There select “Safe Boot” and then click “Apply” and “OK”.

Tip: Make sure to reverse those changes by unticking Safe Boot after that, because your system will always boot in Safe Boot from now on.

4. When prompted, click on “Restart” to go into Safe Mode.

5. You can recognise Safe Mode by the words written on the corners of your screen.

Step 2: Clean any registries, created by Perfect PC Cleanup on your computer.

The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by Perfect PC Cleanup there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:

1. Open the Run Window again, type “regedit” and click OK.

2. When you open it, you can freely navigate to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are shown above.

3. You can remove the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and removing it.

Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click “Modify” to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.

Step 3:Find files created by Perfect PC Cleanup

For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

1: On your keyboard press + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

2: Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.

3: Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

1: Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

2: After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

3: After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

IMPORTANT!Before starting “Step 4”, please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode. This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.

Step 4:Scan for Perfect PC Cleanup with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

2. After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

3. After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

4. After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.

If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Perfect PC Cleanup may remain persistent on your system and may re-infect it. We recommend you to download SpyHunter and run free scan to remove all virus files on your PC. This saves you hours of time and effort compared to doing the removal yourself.

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

Preparation before removing Perfect PC Cleanup.

Before starting the actual removal process, we recommend that you do the following preparation steps.

Make sure you have these instructions always open and in front of your eyes.

Be patient as this could take a while.

Step 1:Uninstall Perfect PC Cleanup and related software from Windows

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria

Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs.No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:

1. Hold the Windows Logo Button and “R” on your keyboard. A Pop-up window will appear.

2. In the field type in “appwiz.cpl” and press ENTER.

3. This will open a window with all the programs installed on the PC. Select the program that you want to remove, and press “Uninstall”

Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.

Step 2:Clean your Browsers from Perfect PC Cleanup.

Remove an extension from Mozilla FirefoxRemove an extension from Google Chrome Remove an extension from Internet Explorer Remove an extension from Microsoft Edge

1. Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window

2. Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu.

3. Select the unwanted extension and click “Remove“

4. After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red “X” button at the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu

2. Move the cursor over “Tools” and then from the extended menu choose “Extensions“

3. From the opened “Extensions” menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its “Remove” button.

4. After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red “X” button at the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Internet Explorer:2. Click on the gear icon labeled ‘Tools’ to open the drop menu and select ‘Manage Add-ons’

3. In the ‘Manage Add-ons’ window.

4. Select the extension you want to remove and then click ‘Disable’. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click ‘Disable’.

5. After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red ‘X’ button located at the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Edge

2. Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.

3. From the drop menu select “Extensions”.

4. Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.

5. Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.

Step 3: Clean any registries, created by Perfect PC Cleanup on your computer.

The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by Perfect PC Cleanup there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:

1. Open the Run Window again, type “regedit” and click OK.

2. When you open it, you can freely navigate to the Run and RunOnce keys, whose locations are shown above.

3. You can remove the value of the virus by right-clicking on it and removing it.

Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click “Modify” to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.

IMPORTANT!Before starting “Step 4”, please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode. This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.

Step 4:Scan for Perfect PC Cleanup with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

2. After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

3. After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

4. After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.

If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Perfect PC Cleanup may remain persistent on your system and may re-infect it. We recommend you to download Combo Cleaner and run free scan to remove all virus files on your Mac. This saves you hours of time and effort compared to doing the removal yourself.

Combo Cleaner’s scanner is free but the paid version is needed to remove the malware threats. Read Combo Cleaner’s EULA and Privacy Policy

Preparation Phase:

Before starting to follow the steps below, be advised that you should first do the following preparations:

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your Mac with Combo Cleaner

Keep in mind, that Combo Cleaner needs to purchased to remove the malware threats. Click on the corresponding links to check Combo Cleaner’s EULA and Privacy Policy

1.Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:

2.Find Activity Monitor and double-click it:

3.In the Activity Monitor look for any suspicious processes, belonging or related to Perfect PC Cleanup:

Tip: To quit a process completely, choose the “Force Quit” option.

4.Click on the “Go” button again, but this time select Applications. Another way is with the ⇧+⌘+A buttons.

5.In the Applications menu, look for any suspicious app or an app with a name, similar or identical to Perfect PC Cleanup. If you find it, right-click on the app and select “Move to Trash”.

6.Select Accounts, after which click on the Login Items preference. Your Mac will then show you a list of items that start automatically when you log in. Look for any suspicious apps identical or similar to Perfect PC Cleanup. Check the app you want to stop from running automatically and then select on the Minus (“–“) icon to hide it.

7.Remove any left-over files that might be related to this threat manually by following the sub-steps below:

Go to Finder.

In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.

Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.

If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.

Remove a toolbar from Mozilla FirefoxRemove a toolbar from Google Chrome Remove an extension from Safari and reset it.

1. Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window

2. Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu.

3. Select the Extension and click “Remove“

4. After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red “X” in the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu

2. Move the cursor over “Tools” and then from the extended menu choose “Extensions“

3. From the opened “Extensions” menu locate the add-on and click on the garbage bin icon on the right of it.

4. After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red “X” in the top right corner and start it again.

1. Start Safari

2. After hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click on the Safari text to open its drop down menu.

3. From the menu, click on “Preferences“

4. After that, select the ‘Extensions’ Tab

5. Click once on the extension you want to remove.

6. Click ‘Uninstall’

A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall the extension. Select ‘Uninstall’ again, and the Perfect PC Cleanup will be removed.

How to Reset Safari

IMPORTANT: Before resetting Safari make sure you back up all your saved passwords within the browser in case you forget them.

Start Safari and then click on the gear leaver icon.

Click the Reset Safari button and you will reset the browser.

Step 3:Scan for and remove Perfect PC Cleanup files from your Mac

When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as Perfect PC Cleanup, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. Combo Cleaner offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.